When you add a secure lock to an ingeniously designed anti-theft device, the result can be zero shrinkage, as some retailers are learning.

The device is called SafeGarment and it is being used by department stores and specialty shops selling fur coats and leather garments. Developed by dxp (designs by people), the device is deceptively simple: A sturdy steel lock-rod is attached to a hanger at one end and to a horizontal bar at the base. The metal components create a floor or wall-mounted fixture to display the garments and are custom-made, so they can be fashioned to fit with any color scheme or visual merchandising concept.

The sleeve of the garment is slipped over the rod, which is then reset and locked into the hanger. The number of vertical steel rods can vary, so coats can be displayed together, but are still able to be examined individually as customers browse.

Once the devices are in place, they require very little maintenance, says Eric Watts, joint managing director of New York-based product design firm dxp. There are no batteries to change, no electronic boxes to monitor and, unlike electronic sensor devices, nothing is attached to the garment. Thieves equipped with steel cutters who encounter a SafeGarment device will find no cables to snip and steel lock-rods that are much beyond the cutters' capability.

And clothing displayed on SafeGarment hangs naturally, Watts says. "After customer browsing, the hanger swings back to an evenly-spaced, neutral position. This keeps both the garments and the store ambience neat and tidy." Without the need to constantly primp the garments after being handled by a shopper, floor personnel can "spend more time with customers," he says. "It also saves time reorganizing the store or department at the end of a busy day."

Engaging the customer
Unlike other devices used to secure expensive apparel, SafeGarment does not have to be disengaged to provide the customer an opportunity for closer inspection. "It's good for sales," says Watts. "It's better than cable because the salesperson can maintain eye contact and keep conversing with the customer. Unlocking the rod is quick and simple; it's not like a cable where it has to be unlocked, fished out of the sleeve and then carried in one hand and the garment in the other."

Locking mechanisms can be a weak link in security systems and anti-theft devices, Watts says, which is why U.K.-headquartered Camlock Systems crafted a special tubular lock for the SafeGarment system. Another feature of the locking mechanism, he says, is that when a garment is replaced, there's an audible click so the sales associate can tell the item has once again been secured.

The locks feature Camlock's "Octagon Camatic" mechanisms that use keys that are extremely difficult to duplicate, since most key-cutting hardware stores don't carry the blanks. Should a key be lost, stolen or otherwise compromised, the eight or 12 changeable combination mechanisms designed into the lock restore full security almost immediately.

Among the retailers using SafeGarment are Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale's and Macy's, as well as several prominent independent furriers.

High fur theft rate
Fur thefts are down over the past eight months, but for at least 18 months prior to that there was a lot of activity, including smash-and-grab thefts and after-hours break-ins, says Lee Ramsdell, a Portland, Maine, insurance broker specializing in the fur industry and affiliated with the Fur Information Council of America, headquartered in West Hollywood, Calif.

According to Ramsdell, nearly all retail fur thefts occur at stores that fail to use anti-theft devices on garments. Those merchants, he says, "would rather pay higher deductibles on thefts than use cables or other devices" they feel detract from the tony ambience of their shops.

Watts tells of an incident at a New Jersey shopping center where thieves broke into a Bloomingdale's fur salon after hours and were so thoroughly frustrated by the SafeGarment system that they left empty-handed. The entire episode was captured by security cameras, and the clip was later posted on You Tube.

By all reports, he says, retailers that have implemented SafeGarment are "happy. In some cases, shrinkage has been pushed back into transit, so some retailers are starting to use this system in transit to combat theft there." Macy's, he says, "has been successful using it this way."